I don't care what they say - size matters: Why cars like the 2024 Mazda MX-5 are brilliant | Opinion

Truly compact cars are becoming a rarity in modern motoring and it’s a terrible shame, in my humble opinion.

Last week I drove the latest version of the Mazda MX-5 and was, once again, blown away by just how small it really is. I’m only 180cm tall but it felt like my head was going to pop out of the roof. It’s just 3.9m long, that’s even shorter than a Mazda2, and it feels it in every dimension.

I say none of this as a negative, in fact, I think the MX-5 is brilliant because of its size. Cars inevitably, or so it seems, get bigger with each new generation but Mazda has managed to buck that trend, with the current ‘ND’ version actually even shorter than the original ‘NA’ from way back in 1989.

The compact dimensions really do add to the appeal of the MX-5, making it super-agile and responsive, while its modest 135kW 2.0-litre engine means it can be driven hard without breaking the speed limit.

This kind of car is a dying breed and that’s not a good thing. I like smaller, more compact cars because it means they’re typically more enjoyable to drive. Even something as seemingly basic as a Kia Picanto is a fun little car if you give it a chance.

But thanks to both consumer demands (for more space) and regulatory needs (for greater crash protection) cars just keep getting bigger and bigger. While it’s a trend across every segment, the one that really bothers me are sports cars, which should be compact in nature because size adds weight and weight is the enemy of performance.

The Porsche 911 is a good example of what I’m talking about, with the 1994 993-generation 911 measuring 4.2m long and 1.6m wide, compared to the current generation at 4.5m long and 1.8m wide. That’s a huge increase in size and you feel every centimetre of it in the car.

That’s not to say a modern 911 is a dud, far from it, but smaller, more compact sports cars do feel very different to drive than modern, larger ones. As driving the MX-5 reminded me, the lack of size makes for a more nimble and responsive character and that’s something driving enthusiasts really crave.

And it’s not just limited to sports cars. One of the most notable examples of the ever-growing new vehicle is the model that was arguably one of the first ‘compact SUVs’ but is now anything-but-compact - the Toyota RAV4.

The 1994 RAV4 was just 3.7m in length, while 30 years later it’s grown to 4.6m - almost a full metre longer, talk about expanding your waistline with middle age! Not only that, but Toyota’s current smallest SUV, the Yaris Cross is actually even bigger than the original RAV4, at 4.1m long.

Ironically, the likes of the Yaris Cross, Corolla Cross and C-HR have all been added to Toyota’s range to cater to buyers looking for something smaller than the RAV4, which was originally meant to be Toyota’s small SUV. Don’t be surprised if in a decade or so Toyota has to add another small SUV to slot underneath the growing Yaris Cross.

It is, of course, not just a Toyota problem, it’s widespread and there’s no sign of slowing down. We’ve seen the once thriving ‘city car’ segment dwindle in numbers as more and more people move into more widely available bigger cars.

And especially as we move into the next-generation of electric vehicles, which will likely be bigger to accommodate more batteries and therefore get heavier too.

Which brings me to the other issue with bigger, heavier cars - they’re less efficient. More size equals more weight and more weight means you need more power to move the vehicle and more weight and more power means more energy needed. So, fuel economy goes up, as does the need for more raw materials to make ever-larger cars. The Mazda MX-5, with its small size and modest engine uses just 6.8L/100km, which is an impressive return for a sports car.

Don’t misunderstand my point, I’m not saying all cars should be small, I certainly don’t think Toyota needs to suddenly shrink the RAV4 or build a tiny version of the LandCruiser, but my hope is that cars like the MX-5 survive in the future and that models like the Yaris Cross don’t grow exponentially. 

Not everyone needs a large car or SUV but if car makers continue to increase the size of each new model while reducing the availability of smaller cars, we may soon simply have less choice…